


D(ams)el in Distress: Five Times Dayna and the Scorpio Crew Saved Tarrant

by aralias



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Awesome Dayna Mellanby, Damsel in Distress, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Season/Series 04, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 21:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aralias/pseuds/aralias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a young, handsome Space Captain, Del Tarrant certainly needs a lot of rescuing. Fortunately, Dayna Mellanby is not your average damsel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	D(ams)el in Distress: Five Times Dayna and the Scorpio Crew Saved Tarrant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lost_spook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_spook/gifts).



_1\. A Fate Worse Than Death_

“ _I OBJECT!”_ Dayna yelled from the back of the hall. 

Tarrant turned to look at her, as did everyone else. There was a great rumbling of chair legs and a murmur of voices from the crowd. Tarrant tried not to roll his eyes. 

“What my client means,” Vila said, as the two of them hurried down the aisle together, “is that she knows of a just cause or impediment. As a matter of fact, we both do. But it, er, affects her rather more than me, of course.” He’d put on a silly voice and a pair of spectacles for the occasion. Conversely, Dayna hadn’t bothered to change. There was still dust on her jumpsuit and a gun still strapped to her side - all the better to inspire fear and confusion in a group of wedding guests. 

“That’s right,” Dayna said firmly. She turned to the woman standing next to Tarrant. “I’m sorry but you can’t marry this man. He’s already married. To me.”

“I have all the relevant documentation,” Vila added. He handed a datapad to the bemused registrar. “As you can see, from the extensive computer records I have provided, Del Tarrant has been married to my client, Ms Mellanby, for almost twenty years.”

 _“Damn,”_ Tarrant said, with a grimace. “I thought you wouldn’t find me.”

“Well, you should have known better,” Dayna retorted. “But then intelligence never was your strongest suit.”

“Del, is this true?” the Duchess of Wharfedale demanded. 

“Certainly not,” Tarrant said. “My test scores have always been well above- _Ow,”_ he said, as she slapped him and stormed off. “Average,” he finished, rubbing his jaw. 

“This does seem to be in order,” the registrar said helplessly, handing Vila’s datapad back to him. 

Dayna seized Tarrant’s jacket. “Right. You’re coming with me.”

“I could sue her for assault, you know,” Vila said, trotting alongside him, as Dayna dragged Tarrant forcibly out of the hall. “I could sue _both_ of them for assault, if you like. My rates are very reasonable.”

“Oh, shut up, Vila,” Dayna said. “It’s all over now.” She handed Tarrant a teleport bracelet and raised her own to her mouth. “Avon, we’ve got him. Bring us up."

Vila gave Tarrant a sly look and tapped the side of his nose. “Just bear it in mind. She’s very violent.” He ducked Dayna’s playful swipe. “See what I mean.” The air shimmered around them.

 _“Twenty years,”_ Tarrant said, as they reappeared back on the Scorpio. 

Avon grinned wickedly. “I thought you’d like that.” 

“Well, while you had your fun, Dayna, Vila and I could have been arrested for fraud. Your little joke could easily have given the game away.”

“I had to go back into your records before your time in the Academy. Anything more recent would have been noticed and it’s possible the Federation wouldn’t have recognised a marriage conducted outside of their jurisdiction anyway. That means you were a child bride. Live with it.”

“He still is a child bride,” Dayna said, patting Tarrant’s cheek. 

Tarrant made a face and pointed a finger at Avon. “Next time you want to trade someone’s hand in marriage for an engine part, make it your own hand. Assuming, that is, that anybody wants it.”

Avon’s laughter followed him down the corridor.

*

_2\. Let Down Your Hair_

Tarrant gave the rope another tug to check it was secure around the bedpost and carried the other end of it over to the window. It wasn’t a proper rope, of course, and it certainly wasn’t the fabric-covered steel-cable he would have chosen to support him during a forty-foot climb. The rope was, in fact, made of torn bed-sheets, but it would have to do since he wasn’t going to be able to make the climb without it. 

“Don’t jump!” Vila yelled from outside, as Tarrant poked his head out the window to watch the rope fall. “You’ve got so much to live for!” He paused. “Actually, I suppose that’s debatable. Soolin, help me out here. What’s Tarrant got to live for? I mean, really.”

“More days like this,” Soolin said. She didn’t bother to raise her voice, but it carried up to Tarrant anyway. “The chance to be shouted at by Avon, kidnapped by large men and held hostage in a tall tower. And his teeth. Objectively speaking, it would be a shame to ruin them. Dental care is very expensive.”

 _“Thanks,”_ Tarrant shouted back. “But I think I’ll take my chances with the rope.” It was clearly about twenty feet too short, but he’d have to live with that. Unless he couldn't. 

“Don’t bother,” Soolin called up. “Dayna’s going to-”

There was a massive explosion. The whole tower shook, and Soolin and Vila threw themselves backwards out of the way of falling rocks. Tarrant skidded towards the staircase, feeling the floor tilt beneath his feet as the stones that had supported that side of the room fell away. The whole place was probably going to collapse in a few minutes, but Tarrant was a fast sprinter and he was almost at the base of the staircase by the time Dayna emerged through the smoke filling the doorway. 

She beamed at him. “Oh good. You’re all right.”

“I won’t be if we stay here much longer,” Tarrant said, pushing her back out of the door. 

The tower creaked more loudly, and they ran for the trees where Vila and Soolin were sheltering.

Soolin waved away the clouds of dust that followed them with one hand, and held out a teleport bracelet with the other. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks,” Tarrant said. “And thank you, Dayna.” 

“My pleasure,” she said. She raised her bracelet to her wrist. “Avon, you can teleport us now.”

“You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off,” Vila commented absently, as the tower crumbled to the ground completely and the teleport whisked them away.

*

_3\. Virtue Threatened!_

“Tarrant,” Dayna’s voice said, through the teleport bracelet, “Tarrant, are you all right?” 

Tarrant barely heard her. The bracelet was at the other end of his arm, which was wrapped around Servalan’s waist, while his ears were cushioned by the large pile of pillows that Servalan had pushed him back into. Her tongue was in his mouth and she’d been kissing him breathless for as long as he could remember. 

“Tarrant,” Dayna’s voice said again. “Respond, please. Are you all right?”

With difficulty Tarrant turned his head to one side and brought his wrist up to his lips. “Yes, Dayna,” he said, as Servalan continued to kiss the side of his face. “I’m fine. In fact, everything’s,” he turned back to Servalan, who drew him into another deep kiss, “rather wonderful.”

“Then stop wasting our time,” Avon’s voice said harshly. “Dayna, bring him up.”

“No. That’s not-” Tarrant began and tried to force the bracelet off his wrist, but it was too late. Servalan waved her fingers as he disappeared, landing in the deck of the Scorpio in a heap with his jacket flapping open and Avon staring dispassionately down at him. 

“Oh my god,” Dayna said, surging to her feet. “I thought you said you were all right!”

Avon squatted down next to Tarrant. “There's no evidence of injury. Of course-” He stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. His eyes widened. “ _Servalan,_ ” he hissed. 

Tarrant looked quickly up at Dayna, but fortunately it seemed she hadn’t heard. “We can talk about this later,” he said to Avon, keeping his voice low. “For now, just put me back down where I was. And don’t tell Dayna whatever it is you think you know.” 

Avon began to laugh.

“Avon, what is it?” Dayna asked. “Is he all right, or do I need to get the medical supplies?”

“No,” Avon said, still laughing. “No medical supplies necessary, Dayna. But it seems we were just in time. Young Tarrant was in great peril.”

“I really don't think I was,” Tarrant said, getting to his feet and beginning to button his jacket.

“Oh, you were, Tarrant. You were in terrible peril.”

“Look, just let me go back there and face the peril. I think I can handle it.”

“No, no,” Avon said. “It's far too perilous. That is, I am of the opinion that it is too perilous, but perhaps we should ask Dayna what she thinks.”

Tarrant glared at him. “I bet you’re gay.”

Avon paused, momentarily surprised but only momentarily. “Bisexual,” he said. “Not that it’s any of your business.” 

Tarrant made a face – very much of the opinion that the less he had to hear or think about Avon’s sex life the better – and took a step back as Dayna leaned in to sniff him, too. 

“What is it?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” she said, frowning. “It’s just... why do you smell like,” she glanced at Avon and then back at Tarrant, “Avon?”

“I don’t,” Tarrant said. He hesitated. “Do I?”

Dayna nodded, and Avon’s grin grew wider. “She wears my cologne,” he said helpfully. 

“Ugh,” Tarrant said, with a shudder, and went to wash Servalan off himself for good. 

*

_4\. George and the Dragon_

“What do you mean,” Avon said dangerously, _“you’ve lost Orac?”_

“I would have thought that was fairly self-explanatory,” Tarrant retorted. “We did have Orac, but now we don’t.” 

“Impossible,” Avon said. “Orac is always left on the ship or at the base. It would be far too dangerous, not to mention pointless, to remove it when it is safe up here. In case you’ve forgotten, Orac is the most valuable piece of equipment we have. It is completely unique and gives us our _only_ advantage over the Federation. Even you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to remove it from the ship, so I say again, what do you mean, you’ve lost Orac?”

“They’ve got my brother,” Tarrant said flatly. “The only brother I have left. What was I supposed to do?”

“ _Not_ give them the most powerful computer in the known universe,” Avon said, advancing on him. “You _idiot_. I realise you only have three brain cells, but even you must now understand that those pirates were working for Servalan.”

“Yes,” Tarrant said. “That doesn’t change the fact that they _have my brother.”_

“Be reasonable, Avon,” Dayna said from her seat on the flight deck. “It was an accident.”

Avon whirled on her. “Stay out of this, Dayna. Unless you want to be spaced along with Tarrant.”

“I said I’d get it back,” Tarrant protested.

“I can’t imagine why you think I’d believe you,” Avon said. “Or trust you to ever leave the ship unsupervised again. As far as I can see the only thing you’ve done right today is that you didn’t give them Orac’s key as well. And that’s only because I wouldn't have given it to you."

“Yes,” Tarrant said awkwardly. “About that...”

Avon touched the pocket he always kept Orac’s key in and found it empty. His bared his teeth in fury and then swung back to yell into the ship. _“VILA!”_

“Vila’s still down on the planet,” Tarrant said. “He got captured as we were making our escape.”

Avon launched himself at Tarrant, who stepped out of his way, but not quickly enough. The butt of Avon’s gun connected with the side of his head and Tarrant fell backwards into one of the protruding walls. Already off balance, he stumbled. Avon gave him another shove and he fell to the floor, cracking his head against the wall. Avon loomed over him, gun in hand, and Tarrant thought, as he had once before – _he is actually going to kill me._

“Avon,” Dayna said, quietly but firmly from Avon’s side. “Stop this now.”

“Why? He’s given her Orac and Vila- We'll all be dead soon.”

"Possibly,” Dayna said. “Or maybe we'll get them both back. Or maybe we'll be fine without them. I know you think Orac is the only real defence we have against the Federation since you sacrificed the Liberator to go after Blake, but it's not really true.”

 _"What_ ," Avon said, turning on her, "did you say, Dayna?"

"I said, you sacrificed the Liberator to go after Blake," Dayna said. "That is what happened, isn't it?"

“I- No. That was- different...”

“Yes, it was,” Dayna said. “Because Blake was never there, whereas we’ve actually seen Tarrant’s brother. I’m not saying we blame you for what you did, because none of us do. In fact, we all understand it. But that won’t bring the Liberator back. Or Cally.” 

Avon’s face had gone horribly still during this speech. Now he looked at her with big dead eyes. “All right, Dayna,” he said quietly. “You’ve made your point.”

“My point,” Dayna said beseechingly, “is that this time there is still a chance to save our friends.”

“Fine,” Avon said, although it was clear he hardly cared now. “Get them back. Soolin can operate the teleport for you, unless you’ve lost her too. I’m going to,” he waved his hand vaguely until he thought of something, “recalibrate the star drive...” 

Dayna held her hand out to Tarrant, who took it and hauled himself to his feet. They both watched Avon disappear into the ship. 

“He’s going to be unbearable for weeks now,” Tarrant remarked.

“I doubt we’ll notice the difference,” Dayna said. She turned to look at him. “Incidentally, you are an idiot. I mean they were obviously working for Servalan, weren’t they?”

“Yes,” Tarrant said wearily. “I know.” 

*

_5\. Enchanted Sleep_

Tarrant awoke to the gentle sound of running water. And the hard smack of Dayna slapping him around the face. 

“Wake _up,_ Tarrant. Wake-”

He caught her hand as it hurtled towards his face again. “I’m awake.” 

“Oh good,” Dayna said, sinking down on the grass next to him. She shook her wrist in an attempt to ease the cramps. “My hand really hurts now.”

“ _Oh,_ ” Tarrant said, with false sympathy. “Does it? I’m sorry. My face feels like it’s been run over.”

“If only it had,” Dayna said. “It’d be a big improvement.” Tarrant made a face at her and she shrugged. “I’m not apologising. I carried you out of the building, but only because it was an emergency. Now we’re out, you can carry yourself.” 

“What building?” Tarrant asked. Dayna pointed behind him and he turned to look at the communications complex, which was now on fire. “Oh yes. That one.” He rubbed his head. “What happened? I remember setting the explosives, and then the alarms going off-”

“They released soma vapour into the comms room,” Dayna said. “I was out in the corridor and there was a guard coming past, so I borrowed his helmet. You weren’t so lucky. Vila couldn’t teleport you out while you were unconscious, so I had to carry you-”

Tarrant grimaced – this was a new low. “You could have left me.”

Dayna grinned in exasperation. “No, I couldn’t. Besides, even if I’d wanted to, Avon wouldn’t have let me. He came down to help me carry you.”

“I think we must be talking about a different Avon.”

“Really. Mine has too many black clothes, a nice smile and a bad attitude. What about yours?”

“Well, where is he, then?”

“He teleported back to Scorpio about five minutes ago,” Dayna said. “I told him he could help to wake you up, but he must have known that hitting you over and over again wasn’t as much fun as it sounds.” She flexed her hand again. “In fact, it was about as much fun as hauling you out of a burning building.”

“I haven’t said thank you for that yet, have I?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Thank you,” Tarrant said. He paused and grimaced. “Am I going to have to say it to Avon, too?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Dayna said, with a laugh. She raised her bracelet. “Avon, are you there?”

“Yes. What about Sleeping Beauty? Is he awake yet?”

“I’m fine,” Tarrant said into his own bracelet. “And I hear I have you and Dayna to thank for that happy state of affairs.”

“Even the best of us can make mistakes,” Avon’s voice said. “And who said anything about happy? Vila, are you happy?”

“Ecstatic.” 

“Well, there speaks the notable exception,” Avon said. “All right, teleporting now.”

Dayna rolled her eyes. “Well, _I’m_ happy you’re not dead,” she told Tarrant. 

Tarrant snorted. “Thank you," he said. "Funnily enough, so am I."

*

_6\. Death on the Railroad_

The locomotive was very close. Dayna could hear the thundering of its wheels behind her, drowning out the crunch of her feet on the gravel. 

She’d been running for five minutes now, ever since she’d realised there was no way up the side of the ravine. When she’d begun, she’d hoped there would be a way out the other end. Back then it had seemed reasonable that the ravine would open out into flat ground, but the odds of that happening before the train reached her were closing by the second. She risked a glance backwards. The train was in sight, cloaked in a massive cloud of steam. 

_“Vila,”_ Dayna yelled again into her teleport bracelet. “ _Avon._ Come in, please.” Still no answer. Dayna cursed and kept running, just for something to do. If she was going to die, she was going to fight it until the last moment. Something could still happen. 

And, suddenly, something did. There was a great creaking above her and Dayna looked up at a copper flyer keeping pace with her along the railroad. The door closest to her heaved itself upwards and open, and Tarrant leant out, causing the whole vehicle to keel over in her direction.

“You look like you could use a hand,” he shouted over the roar of the flyer and the train. 

“You could say that,” Dayna agreed without slowing down. She glanced back at the train. It would be on her in seconds. “Can you come any closer?”

“There’s no room. You’ll have to jump.” Tarrant leant out further, the hand not on the flyer controls stretched out towards her. “ _Dayna._ Jump now. You haven’t got much time left.” 

Fighting the urge shout, “ _I know,_ ” Dayna looked up, gauging the distance to his hand. She would only get one shot at this. If she missed, she’d be carried under the wheels of the train in seconds. But she was Dayna Mellanby and she wasn’t going miss. 

Dayna jumped and caught Tarrant’s hand between both of hers. He hauled her upwards and she let go with her left hand, catching the edge of the flyer instead and using it as leverage to pull herself inside the vehicle. Tarrant span the control wheel away from her and the flyer rose steadily out of the ravine. Underneath them, the train roared past. 

Dayna exhaled and pulled the door shut behind her. “Thanks.”

“That’s one you owe me,” he said, with a grin.

“And _twelve_ you still owe me,” she retorted in mock irritation. 

‘Is it really that many?”

“Yes, it’s that many.”

“Well,” Tarrant said, “I suppose you’ll just have to put up with me for a while longer, then.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Dayna said. “It’s lucky you’re only half as infuriating as you pretend to be.” Tarrant laughed and steered the flyer back towards Scorpio. Dayna smiled at him. “Thank you," she said seriously, "for saving me. I really thought I was for it.”

Tarrant grinned back at her. “Any time,” he said.


End file.
